Oscars 2023: Best Actress Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh has an India connect
The Malaysia-born Oscar winner, who has become the first Asian woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her multifaceted performance, survived the deadly earthquake that struck Nepal while she was visiting the landlocked Himalayan nation in April 2015.
Survivor of the devastating earthquake, actress Michelle Yeoh, famous for her roles in James Bond film ‘Tomorrow Never Dies’ and ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’, has won the Academy Award for Best Actress and made history for her role in ‘Everything, Everywhere All At Once’.
Michelle Yeoh has an India connect too. In the ‘background’ of her life is Buddhist leader Gyalwang Drukpa, the spiritual head of the Drukpa Order based in India with over 1,000 monasteries across the Himalayas. A disciple of His Holiness, in 2015, Michelle raised charity from Hollywood for Nepal earthquake victims on the advice of Gyalwang Drukpa for his ‘Live to Love’ foundation.
At that time she was the brand ambassador of the foundation. With the earthquake, killing 9,000 people and causing massive destruction, Michelle was stranded in Nepal with fiance Jean Todt, then head of the International Automobile Federation (FIA), which governs the Formula One circuit.
After the couple’s evacuation, she returned to the disaster-hit country again to help rehabilitate affected people.
The honour at the 95th Academy Awards to her came after a long career in martial arts and action movies like ‘Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon’. “Ladies, don’t ever let anyone tell you that you are past your prime,” was the inspirational remark of Michelle at the award ceremony. “For all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight, this is a beacon of hope and possibility.”
